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Enlightenus - The Timeless Tower, developed by Blue Tea Games, is a Hidden Object Adventure game which turns its main feature on its head.  Rather than expecting you to find a list of objects within a scene, you are provided with the objects so that you can replace them in their correct positions within the supplied scene.  I have been checking out the Collector's Edition of the game which comes with an integrated Strategy Guide, bonus game play, music soundtrack, wallpaper, concept art, screensaver and a free copy of Forgotten Riddles: The Mayan Princess.

The usual options, found in games of this type, are available.  Profiles can be  created so that different people can play the game and have their progress and achievements recorded.  Volume level adjustments can be made to the background music and sound effects including instances of spoken dialogue.  An option to play the game in full screen mode is available but without any say with regards to levels of difficulty.

As a news reporter you are set the task of putting right the errors of a master clockmaker, named Clarence Flatt.  In his attempt to create the Ageless Clock, things go wrong and the invention scatters pieces of time in every direction and so begins to unravel the very fabric of time.  It is up to you to explore the Tower where the clockmaker's work was conducted, find these incidents and stop the past being rewritten.

As you make your way through the different floors making up the Tower, you will be aided by certain tools arranged across the bottom of the screen displaying your current view.  In adventure mode, as you move around the Tower, this area will consist of the Hint feature and supply of E-cards, inventory items, Strategy Guide and the Ageless Clock holding the special elements you collect.  E-cards are rewards you receive that can be used to speed up the charging process of the Hint feature after each use.

At  different times during the game, you will come across one of the scattered pieces of time.  These scenes cover a range of locations and time periods.  For example you could be faced by the Forbidden City in 1650 AD, then Ancient Egypt in 1000 BC followed by the Opera House in 1810 AD before entering the Mayan Jungle in 300 BC.  Their presence is generally indicated by a clock and an outbreak of sparkles.

Entering the scene will reveal a view that requires correcting by replacing the eight items that now occupy the inventory area.  By selecting one of the items its title will be revealed.  You can then drag its over the scene and see descriptions of the available elements to help you make a choice of where the selected item would fit.  Occasionally more than a single item could be used in more than one position.

Once all the different items have been successfully placed within a scene then you will be rewarded with an element that is added to the Ageless Clock.  At various stages during the game, you will need to empty the Ageless Clock  Its content can then be sorted into appropriate groups. 

The game also features a number of other puzzles.  Often these puzzles will involve clicking on elements in a certain order to create a story line.  In this way you could save the king, catch a big fish or save grandma.  While hardly world-shattering, these puzzles provide amusing interludes to the main job of restoring items to their correct positions in different historical scenes.

After completing the various date-related locations, some of which are repeated with some variation in the list of items to replace, the game is not finished with you.  There is still the Clockmaker's Legacy aspect.  This is a side quest which needs to be completed before you are granted access to the title's bonus items.  This quest contains more of the same but this time based on futuristic locations and periods.

Once completed you are granted access to the Collector's Edition bonus items including Forgotten Riddles as you need to find Hidden Objects concealed behind riddles.  With its range of features and modes of game play, Enlightenus 2: The Timeless Tower is well worth considering.  I have seen this product listed on eBay priced at £1.59.  The game requires a 800 MHz processor with 1024MB of RAM and 344MB of hard disk space running Windows XP and later.

2 GAMES--ENLIGHTENUS 2 THE TIMELESS TOWER- & FORGOTTEN RIDDLES--HIDDEN OBJ-PC CD | eBay